[Fic] Bleach/ShuuKira
Title: A Journey of One Thousand Miles Began with One Step
Author: flying_embers
Rating: PG-13
Characters: Hisagi Shuuhei, Kira Izuru (friendship-wise at this point)
Word Count: 1143
Disclaimer: Bleach and these crazy characters belong to the master, Kubo Tite. And I’m pretty sure the title is owned by someone too, but I can’t remember who right now.
*
Shuuhei always considered himself a man's man.
And that meant being the toughest one there was, the diamond out of them all. In the wake of his captain's desertion, he put up a brave face and shouldered his responsibility without complaint. So far, he thought he was doing a pretty good job looking though. Hinamori was a mess. Kira was marginally better - on the outside. Somehow, it was a comfort to know that he was at least doing fine compared to the rest of this fucked-up group.
On the outside.
He saw his limit, but ignored it, convinced that sheer willpower would make up for any actual power he lacked. One too many sleepless nights, one too many paperwork, one too many subordinates coming to him with problems they should have been able to solve themselves, however, put an end to that delusion one night.
His desk, half-buried under stacks of reports and documents, was his first victim. Kazeshini was silent as its blade sliced through wood, offering neither reproach nor consolation toward his action. The sudden flare of his reiatsu scattered papers all over the room, white stained by splatters of black ink. Then he turned his attention to the bookcase at the corner of the room, only to stop in his track at the sight of Kira standing uncertainly at his doorstep.
The silence that followed was an awkward one. Shuuhei noticed Kira’s glance toward Kazeshini, still brandished by his right hand, and felt a wave of embarrassment, thick in the midst of his remaining anger.
“Is there anything you need?” he asked brusquely.
It snapped Kira out of his silence. “I’m sorry,” he quickly answered, in his quiet, timid way which no doubt had made him an easy prey for Ichimaru Gin - and where did that come from, Shuuhei frowned at himself for conjuring that thought out of nowhere. “I heard the noise and I thought something… bad happened.”
Shuuhei snorted, putting his zanpakutou back into its sheath. “Because you just happened to be passing by?”
Kira tensed, but his voice remained neutral when he spoke again. “Well, no. Actually I was wondering if Hisagi-san needed some help with paperwork.”
Shuuhei blinked. That was definitely not what he was expecting. “Paperwork,” he echoed, unsure if he had heard right.
“Yes.” Kira looked away from him, hands fisted at his side. “I have finished my share and I… I don’t like to spend the night without anything to do but think.”
“Really,” Shuuhei murmured, somewhat at a loss for words.
“But if I’m intruding-”
“Actually,” Shuuhei cut him off, familiar with this stuffy politeness among seated officers and really, really tired of it at the moment, “I think I need your help now more than I did two minutes ago, if you don’t mind.”
A little smile appeared on Kira’s face. “So I see.”
“Yeah, I was being an idiot,” Shuuhei sighed, running a hand through his hair. “Please come in, and mind that table… former table, whatever.”
Kira’s smile widened, the edge lined with genuine amusement, as he stepped into the office. The lamp cast a light onto his face and it made Shuuhei paused in the middle of picking up papers.
“You look like hell, you know that?”
The blond offered him another smile, diplomatic, defensive. “I have trouble sleeping lately.”
Shuuhei would have asked ‘since when’ if the answer weren’t so damn obvious. And Kira looked like he could do without the probing, so he curbed his curiosity and got on with the boring task.
Three bundled documents later, he was starting to lament his momentary loss of self-control. Really, what had he been thinking?
Which was a stupid question because he, of course, had not been thinking. Throwing a fit tended not to include thinking in its execution.
“These documents will have to be redone, Hisagi-san,” came Kira’s soft voice from the other side of the heap of mutilated wood formerly known as Shuuhei’s table. A pale, white hand passed him a few documents which content was now beyond recognition under splotches of ink.
Shuuhei suppressed an urge to tear his hair out. “I’ll have to organize the rest first to know what I’m missing,” he muttered. And then, he had to harass his subordinates into rewriting those ‘missing’ reports and informed Yamamoto-soutaichou about the delay. The next few days were looking absolutely peachy.
“You won’t be able to finish it all in one night,” Kira said reasonably, still with a quiet voice that conveyed nothing. Shuuhei looked up and considered him for a moment, trying to decide if there was an offer attached.
Nope. Just a figment of his imagination that was produced by the not-so-tiny piece of his cowardly heart that was crying for help. Besides, what kind of beast he was, to ask help from Kira who obviously needed rest more than he did?
“I’ll rope in some of my officers to give me a hand,” he said at last. Not that they would help much, but the Third Division’s vice-captain didn’t know that. All hail individualism in this part of the world.
“I don’t really have much to do in the next few days,” said Kira, who was trying very hard to not be individualistic, despite the trend. Shuuhei gave him a baleful look.
“You do,” he stated firmly, “and that’s sleep.”
Kira shook his head. “I won’t sleep even if I don’t come here to help.”
Shuuhei glared at him suspiciously. “Is that supposed to be some kind of psychological blackmail?”
“Of course not, Hisagi-san,” Kira replied innocently, which only served to shoot his suspicion to the moon. It was, if Shuuhei shrugged off his cloak of denial for a moment, admittedly a very tempting offer. Work had been his only refuge since the betrayal and even hell moths knew he needed some sort of variation badly.
And then, of course, the sledgehammer of epiphany hit him on the face. He was actually reeling for a moment, balancing his weight on the balls of his feet and ruined documents completely forgotten. Of course. Of course. Kira suffered through the same thing. It was only natural that he sought the company of someone who could probably understand, to certain level, that this, this whole thing wasn’t just about betrayal.
Just a thought, but hey, this could actually work.
“If you insist,” Shuuhei finally relented - or pretended to, he didn’t really know himself. A part of him was obviously cheering for the promised help.
“Well then.” Kira smiled at him, and this one might be genuine - or not, but Shuuhei still had a few days to find out. “Shall we start now? It’s already quite late.”
“Sure,” he found himself smiling in return.
And later, Shuuhei promised, he would discover a way to force Kira to pay some of those sleep-debts. For real.
End
Author: flying_embers
Rating: PG-13
Characters: Hisagi Shuuhei, Kira Izuru (friendship-wise at this point)
Word Count: 1143
Disclaimer: Bleach and these crazy characters belong to the master, Kubo Tite. And I’m pretty sure the title is owned by someone too, but I can’t remember who right now.
*
Shuuhei always considered himself a man's man.
And that meant being the toughest one there was, the diamond out of them all. In the wake of his captain's desertion, he put up a brave face and shouldered his responsibility without complaint. So far, he thought he was doing a pretty good job looking though. Hinamori was a mess. Kira was marginally better - on the outside. Somehow, it was a comfort to know that he was at least doing fine compared to the rest of this fucked-up group.
On the outside.
He saw his limit, but ignored it, convinced that sheer willpower would make up for any actual power he lacked. One too many sleepless nights, one too many paperwork, one too many subordinates coming to him with problems they should have been able to solve themselves, however, put an end to that delusion one night.
His desk, half-buried under stacks of reports and documents, was his first victim. Kazeshini was silent as its blade sliced through wood, offering neither reproach nor consolation toward his action. The sudden flare of his reiatsu scattered papers all over the room, white stained by splatters of black ink. Then he turned his attention to the bookcase at the corner of the room, only to stop in his track at the sight of Kira standing uncertainly at his doorstep.
The silence that followed was an awkward one. Shuuhei noticed Kira’s glance toward Kazeshini, still brandished by his right hand, and felt a wave of embarrassment, thick in the midst of his remaining anger.
“Is there anything you need?” he asked brusquely.
It snapped Kira out of his silence. “I’m sorry,” he quickly answered, in his quiet, timid way which no doubt had made him an easy prey for Ichimaru Gin - and where did that come from, Shuuhei frowned at himself for conjuring that thought out of nowhere. “I heard the noise and I thought something… bad happened.”
Shuuhei snorted, putting his zanpakutou back into its sheath. “Because you just happened to be passing by?”
Kira tensed, but his voice remained neutral when he spoke again. “Well, no. Actually I was wondering if Hisagi-san needed some help with paperwork.”
Shuuhei blinked. That was definitely not what he was expecting. “Paperwork,” he echoed, unsure if he had heard right.
“Yes.” Kira looked away from him, hands fisted at his side. “I have finished my share and I… I don’t like to spend the night without anything to do but think.”
“Really,” Shuuhei murmured, somewhat at a loss for words.
“But if I’m intruding-”
“Actually,” Shuuhei cut him off, familiar with this stuffy politeness among seated officers and really, really tired of it at the moment, “I think I need your help now more than I did two minutes ago, if you don’t mind.”
A little smile appeared on Kira’s face. “So I see.”
“Yeah, I was being an idiot,” Shuuhei sighed, running a hand through his hair. “Please come in, and mind that table… former table, whatever.”
Kira’s smile widened, the edge lined with genuine amusement, as he stepped into the office. The lamp cast a light onto his face and it made Shuuhei paused in the middle of picking up papers.
“You look like hell, you know that?”
The blond offered him another smile, diplomatic, defensive. “I have trouble sleeping lately.”
Shuuhei would have asked ‘since when’ if the answer weren’t so damn obvious. And Kira looked like he could do without the probing, so he curbed his curiosity and got on with the boring task.
Three bundled documents later, he was starting to lament his momentary loss of self-control. Really, what had he been thinking?
Which was a stupid question because he, of course, had not been thinking. Throwing a fit tended not to include thinking in its execution.
“These documents will have to be redone, Hisagi-san,” came Kira’s soft voice from the other side of the heap of mutilated wood formerly known as Shuuhei’s table. A pale, white hand passed him a few documents which content was now beyond recognition under splotches of ink.
Shuuhei suppressed an urge to tear his hair out. “I’ll have to organize the rest first to know what I’m missing,” he muttered. And then, he had to harass his subordinates into rewriting those ‘missing’ reports and informed Yamamoto-soutaichou about the delay. The next few days were looking absolutely peachy.
“You won’t be able to finish it all in one night,” Kira said reasonably, still with a quiet voice that conveyed nothing. Shuuhei looked up and considered him for a moment, trying to decide if there was an offer attached.
Nope. Just a figment of his imagination that was produced by the not-so-tiny piece of his cowardly heart that was crying for help. Besides, what kind of beast he was, to ask help from Kira who obviously needed rest more than he did?
“I’ll rope in some of my officers to give me a hand,” he said at last. Not that they would help much, but the Third Division’s vice-captain didn’t know that. All hail individualism in this part of the world.
“I don’t really have much to do in the next few days,” said Kira, who was trying very hard to not be individualistic, despite the trend. Shuuhei gave him a baleful look.
“You do,” he stated firmly, “and that’s sleep.”
Kira shook his head. “I won’t sleep even if I don’t come here to help.”
Shuuhei glared at him suspiciously. “Is that supposed to be some kind of psychological blackmail?”
“Of course not, Hisagi-san,” Kira replied innocently, which only served to shoot his suspicion to the moon. It was, if Shuuhei shrugged off his cloak of denial for a moment, admittedly a very tempting offer. Work had been his only refuge since the betrayal and even hell moths knew he needed some sort of variation badly.
And then, of course, the sledgehammer of epiphany hit him on the face. He was actually reeling for a moment, balancing his weight on the balls of his feet and ruined documents completely forgotten. Of course. Of course. Kira suffered through the same thing. It was only natural that he sought the company of someone who could probably understand, to certain level, that this, this whole thing wasn’t just about betrayal.
Just a thought, but hey, this could actually work.
“If you insist,” Shuuhei finally relented - or pretended to, he didn’t really know himself. A part of him was obviously cheering for the promised help.
“Well then.” Kira smiled at him, and this one might be genuine - or not, but Shuuhei still had a few days to find out. “Shall we start now? It’s already quite late.”
“Sure,” he found himself smiling in return.
And later, Shuuhei promised, he would discover a way to force Kira to pay some of those sleep-debts. For real.
End